ssize_t read (int fd, void *buf, size_t count);
...
int hFile;
ssize_t iCount;
char abBuffer [1024];
iCount = read (hFile, &abBuffer, sizeof (abBuffer));

pushl $1024             ;sizeof (abBuffer)
pushl $abBuffer         ;&abBuffer
pushl hFile             ;hFile
call  read              ;call the library
addl  $12,%esp          ;remove arguments from stack
movl  %eax,iCount       ;save result